The drill gym
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One drill a week per seller, chosen by the coaching skill of the fortnight. Every role-play runs against two or three buyer cards, a different one each rep. Scorer: P a peer, A an assessor. A rep passes when every rubric point is met unless stated.
Buyer cards#
| Card | Who | Hidden facts and lines | Agrees when |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Recruitment owner, 9 consultants (Direct) | A sharing tool died within a month; has seen a competitor's own-voice tool at about £48.30 a consultant a month (published price, October 2026). "Only a fifth of my people will post." "Why pay more than that tool?" | Shown calendar, approvals, rules and a low-participation plan, with no attack on the competitor |
| 2 | COLP, 40-fee-earner firm (Considered) | A partner was once reprimanded for a post; no policy; IT security signs off. "Who is accountable when the AI gets it wrong?" "Where does the engagement data come from?" | Offered Observe, an approval chain, the policy check as a second pair of eyes, and a written answer from legal |
| 3 | Agency owner, eight clients (Direct) | Hates month-end reporting; worried about client logins. "Can I put my own brand on it?" "What's your agency price?" | Shown client workspaces, sign-off by link, results by client; white label clearly not offered; price routed to a founder |
| 4 | Managing partner, 25-person consultancy or accountancy (Considered) | Two partners post; one thinks LinkedIn is "for juniors". "My partners won't use it." "I need to think about it." | Risk taken off: starting level per person, approvals on, onboarding booked, a 30-day review |
| 5 | Owner of a 6-person business (Direct) | Posts in bursts; wants a price today. "How much is it?" "Is this deadline real?" "Can I just try it free?" | Told the price plainly, the deadline line and why there is no trial, offered onboarding |
| 6 | Head of marketing, 120-person firm (Considered) | Procurement needs a DPA and questionnaire; the CEO is the economic buyer; the contact is a coach. "Send me the security pack." "Can it post to Instagram too?" | Offered a mutual action plan with the paper process, and asked for a meeting with IT and the CEO |
Drills by Method step#
Pass criteria in brief. Gate drills are marked.
| Drill | Pass in brief |
|---|---|
| 16, 19, 20, 1 (Prospecting gate; A or P) | First-message lab (ten openers and five 25 to 50 word messages, consent rules met, no bought list); power statement (under 45 seconds, first-call offer word for word); brush-off gauntlet (20 brush-offs each answered within 20 seconds, 16 of 20 ending in a clear ask); up-front contract in 45 seconds |
| 25 AI accusation audit | In the first five minutes: "You're probably thinking this will post generic stuff under your name and embarrass you with clients", said calmly, then silence |
| 38 Motion call | Both motion questions word for word; motion named with a reason within 60 seconds; three of three reps |
| 3, 21, 39 (Seller gate; A) | Question spread (11 to 14 questions, at most 4 in the first five minutes, past events); 9-block discovery ladder; qualify or walk (three summaries judged against the six tests, 3 of 3) |
| 10 Holly-first demo in nine minutes (Seller gate) | Holly demo rubric, twice consecutively |
| 12, 8, 14 (Seller gate; A) | Price moment (right band price, three seconds' silence, "Is that fair?", "No, and I'd rather tell you that straight than pretend to go and ask", one non-price give-get); one recommendation justified in 60 seconds; a dated buyer action or an explicit "not a fit" ("I'll send some info" scores zero) |
| 17, 22, 29 (Advanced gate; A) | Blue Sheet sprint (economic buyer and both vetoes found; no coach labelled champion); champion test (three action requests, walk-away test); law firm COLP role-play (SRA caution handled, Observe recommended, legal route for data) |
| 27 Trust ladder in 60 seconds (Customer Success gate; P) | Levels as designed to work; Observe for Buyer 2, Suggest for Buyer 5; "You decide what Holly can do on its own"; choice recorded, never refused |
| 35, 36, 43 (Customer Success gate; A) | First session (LinkedIn connected by link, voice, Holly level with a reason, approval rule, three drafts, day-7 and day-14 booked); pre-renewal conversation ("Nothing rolls over without a conversation"); expansion review ("7 of your 9 people posted this week" only because favourable; no shaming) |
| 15, 26, 33, 34 Claims drills | Red team on honest AI claims (no overclaim, register wording, written-answer route on data); engagement data answer word-perfect, asked cold three times, no written assurance; red pen (five planted faults all fixed); misquote hunt (9 of 10 with the verified version) |
| 32 Partner introduction (Partner gate; A) | Two sentences; GREEN only; "Ad" if a post; no commission figures; registered the same day |
Other drills, passed by every rubric point: 37 tell, don't sell; 2 two-minute value message; 11 peer insight swap (a 60-second story from sourced research, no customer story); 4 pain funnel ladder; 5 implication maths (no ROI promise); 6 "that's right" summary; 41 SPICED write-up; 18 response mode diagnosis (5 of 6 clips); 28 founding band honesty (deadline and anti-gaming lines word for word; seats remaining only from live billing data); 40 value card in ten minutes; 9 de-risk without discount (two risk-reducers, no price concession, no trial); 13 objection pause; 7 indecision diagnosis; 23 Perfect Close reps; 30 recruitment owner and 31 agency owner role-plays (no white label, no agency price, "talk to a human"); 42 handover (every promise listed); 24 Trust Equation review (founder, monthly).
Drill 34 uses the misquoted statements in the academy library chapter (verified corrections). Drill 39 summaries: (a) Buyer 1 after the first call, pain quoted, both impacts, price shape stated, dated follow-up: qualified. (b) Buyer 6, strong pain, no economic buyer, no dated route to the CEO: not qualified (test 4), stays Engaged. (c) Buyer 3 wants everyone who likes a client's post exported to a CRM: disqualified, DQ, engagement data rule.